the little gunnell family : Tenley's 4 Month Updates

Thanks for the encouragement I received yesterday! No, I didn't complete everything for that class in the last 24 hours, but I did manage to complete two full lessons which was a small miracle. I'm hoping to finish the last three lessons tomorrow and perhaps begin my essay on Sunday. Monday I intend to call BYU and ask about taking the final on the 3rd when Dalin and I get back from Christmas break! So that's progress, right??

Anyhow, I just love Tenley. How I got such a happy, chill, pretty baby is beyond me. I'm pretty sure she takes after her daddy, especially in personality. She's so calm and I just am SO grateful for her joyful spirit! Updates on her life:

She is four months old as of the 12th! (I've lost track of how many weeks) Man, time has flown by. Whenever I look at her, I am still just amazed that: A) she came out of me, B) she's mine, and C) that she is getting rapidly closer to being half a year old! What the heck! Wasn't she just a newborn a week ago??
She is just so perfectly happy almost all the time. She has her moments, but what girls don't?
We got Tenley's 4 month immunizations done today and she literally fussed for maybe five seconds. The two nurses were like, "Woah, she did really well!" I, on the other hand, was a nervous wreck until they were over. Mothers. Now she has three little bandaids on her thighs which I am not looking forward to removing. Although come to think of it, she didn't even notice when I peeled them off last time. And she was asleep.
She can get off her bouncer if I don't strap her in and if I let her cry for a few minutes. She just twists her tiny body until she's almost all the way on the floor. She's done it like three times, so I've finally decided I'd better strap her in from now on.
We went to a luncheon for a boy from Dalin's work today and sat with a few of his co-workers. While there, I nursed Tenley at the table under my cover and a co-worker's wife said, "Are you nursing her with no hands right now?" I looked down to see what she meant. I had a butter knife in one hand and a roll in the other. "I guess I am," I said. She was really impressed, which was funny but I just told her that I am always trying to get things done while feeding her and that that was pretty normal. She thought that was cool. I never really thought about it, but Tenley is a trooper. I was just balancing her on my crossed legs. Yet she never acted like she was uncomfortable.
She's back to going to bed easily. Last week we had a rough patch, but I'm pretty sure it was because I let her try mashed banana when she turned four months old. Since then, I've only given her graham cracker crumbs on two separate occasions, and a tiny, tiny bit of white rice from my dinner last night. She has been handling solids really well. If they weren't so messy (and didn't make changing diapers even less fun) then I'd probably give them to her more regularly. But probably for the next couple of months I'll just continue to give her samples.
She thinks I'm hilarious. I love that. It makes me feel so good. Especially when it's only the two of us, she just laughs and smiles at everything I say to her. She loves my silly faces and it is the best thing in the world when I look at her and see that she's been smiling at me even without my noticing. Gahh! Motherhood is so awesome!!!!!
She adores her dad. When she's mad at her mama, daddy can always calm her down. The two of them just love napping and rocking together. And it cracks me up every time I look over at the two of them rocking and Tenley is just staring at Dalin's laptop screen with one eyebrow raised as if she's processing what she's seeing. They have such a sweet relationship. I'm so glad she knows and loves her dad!
She loves showering. I haven't given her a bath since she was probably one month old because I've found showering to be so much easier. We both appreciate the skin to skin contact and Tenley always has a big smile on her face when I lift her above my head into the stream of water. I've been teaching her that counting to three means we're putting our faces in the water. I say, "Okay Tenley, one, two, THREE!" and duck her under. She has never had a problem with it! I'm hoping that helps when we start swim lessons.
She definitely loves reading. I can tell because she'll be fussing and I'll get a book and she'll look right at it and listen while I read. She looks at the things I point out on the pages, especially in our Spanish First Words book. I am still not speaking as regularly as I'd like, but I definitely throw Spanglish sentences together on a regular basis so at least she'll have some exposure.
I sign the alphabet to her (ASL) every time we say it--English or Spanish. She watches my hands so I'm hoping it's making an impact. I also sign "more," "hungry," and "I love you" (especially the latter) to her all the time. I'm almost certain she understands the sign for "I love you" because I've started to sign it without saying it occasionally and she gives me the biggest smile when she sees it. I also put her tiny fingers in the position for it so she can get a feel for it and once I saw her little hand signing "I love you" as she waved! I'm sure it was a fluke, but I freaked out because it was just so awesome, even if it was only a mistake. Soon enough she'll be able to do it for real.

That's all I can think of for now. But she's doing really well and I just love her so much. I'm filled with joy when I look at her. Having her around me all the time is like having a snuggly little best friend I can hold and kiss and cuddle and talk to always. She makes us so crazy happy! If I had known how great she would be, I would have wanted to have her sooner!

Here are some photos of her for your enjoyment: